System for developing composite repair patches on aircraft or other composite structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9919444-B2
Application number	US-201514844172-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 3, 2015
Priority date	Jul 10, 2015
Publication date	Mar 20, 2018
Grant date	Mar 20, 2018

Abstract

A system for generating a repair patch for a damaged area of a composite structure may include a scanning module, a repair patch model generator and a cutting tool. The scanning module may be deployed at the location of the damaged composite structure. The scanning module may be configured to scan the damaged area to generate scanned data indicative of a shape, size and/or contours of the damaged area. The repair patch model generator may include processing circuitry configured to obtain the scanned data, obtain parent ply information of the damaged composite structure, and generating a patch model of a repair patch including size and shape definition for each of a plurality of plies based on the scanned data and the parent ply information. The cutting tool may be configured to receive cutting files based on the patch model to generate a plurality of cut plies that combine to form the repair patch.

First claim

That which is claimed:

1. A system for generating a repair patch for a damaged area of a composite structure, the system comprising:
a scanning module deployable on-site at a location of the composite structure, the scanning module being configured to scan the damaged area to generate scanned data indicative of a shape, size and/or contours of the damaged area;
a repair patch model generator comprising processing circuitry configured to:
obtain the scanned data;
obtain parent ply information of the composite structure; and
generate a patch model of a repair patch including size and shape definition for each of a plurality of plies based on the scanned data and the parent ply information, wherein the patch model is generated on-site at the location of the composite structure; and

a cutting tool located remote from the location of the composite structure and configured to receive cutting files based on the patch model to generate a plurality of cut plies that are separately cut and assembled remote from the location of the composite structure to form the repair patch for delivery to the location of the composite structure,
wherein the patch model includes orientation information defined relative to a common reference axis for each ply and order information to enable the plies to be oriented and assembled as the repair patch to repair the damaged area.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cutting tool is a textile cutting machine.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein receiving the cutting files comprises receiving the cutting files via wireless or wired communication, or via a removable memory device.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the parent ply information comprises retrieving the parent ply information from a database storing composite structure ply information for each of a plurality of aircraft or aircraft components.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein upon the repair patch being generated at the location remote from the composite structure, the repair patch is transported to the location of the composite structure for installation.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the repair patch is installed and cured at the composite structure under vacuum.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the orientation information is printed on each ply.

8. A method of generating a repair patch for a damaged area of a composite structure, the method comprising:
obtaining scanned data indicative of a shape, size and/or contours of the damaged area of the composite structure;
obtaining parent ply information of the composite structure; and
generating a patch model of a repair patch including size and shape definition for each of a plurality of plies based on the scanned data and the parent ply information, wherein the patch model is generated on-site at the location of the composite structure; and
providing cutting files based on the patch model to a cutting tool that is located remote from the location of the composite structure and configured to receive the cutting files based on the patch model to generate a plurality of cut plies that are separately cut and assembled remote from the location of the composite structure to form the repair patch for delivery to the location of the composite structure,
wherein generating the patch model includes generating the patch model to include orientation information defined relative to a common reference axis for each ply and order information to enable the plies to be oriented and assembled as the repair patch to repair the damaged area.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the cutting tool is a textile cutting machine.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein providing the cutting files comprises providing the cutting files via wireless or wired communication, or via a removable memory device.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein obtaining the parent ply information comprises retrieving the parent ply information from a database storing composite structure ply information for each of a plurality of aircraft or aircraft components.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein in response to generating the repair patch at the location remote from the composite structure, the repair patch is transported to the location of the composite structure for installation.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the repair patch is installed and cured at the composite structure under vacuum.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein generating the patch model further includes printing the orientation information on each ply.

Assignees

• Univ Wichita State

Inventors

• Tomblin John
• Brown Brian M
• Salah Lamia

Classifications

• B32B2305/18

  Fabrics, textiles · CPC title

• Y10T29/49718

  Repairing · CPC title

• A61N1/025

  Digital circuitry features of electrotherapy devices, e.g. memory, clocks, processors · CPC title

• Y10T29/49726

  Removing material · CPC title

• B26D5/007 Primary

  Control means comprising cameras, vision or image processing systems · CPC title